Artist Spotlight
Permanent Collection

By Tyler Noland, SOU ’21

Starting Fall 2019, the Schneider’s Entry Gallery now features works from our Permanent Collection as well as Masterworks on Loan. While the Masterworks on Loan program functions on an availability basis, works from the Permanent Collection will now be on rotation in the Entry Gallery as space is available. Due to the generous gifts of the Masterworks on Loan during these exhibitions, the Permanent Collection pieces are constricted to a select few works that accompany the spirit of the Fall Exhibitions.

One of these featured works is by David Siqueiros, the youngest member of “Los Tres Grandes” of Mexican muralism. Siqueiros along with Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco headed the Mexican muralist movement. Born in 1896 in Chihuahua City, Mexico, Siqueiros spent his life throwing himself into both art and politics. He championed the art movement referred to as Socialist Realism, he brought his politics into his art in order to make a public statement that he hoped would be valuable to people, especially the lower class. He used these murals to display the social problems and suffering that he saw people experiencing. Often radical in his political beliefs and actions, his artistic statements did not stay confined to his murals. The piece on display, “Mujer en la Cárcel” is just one of his lithographs owned by the museum, its title translates to “Woman in Jail”. This piece highlights the way Siqueiros brought his socio-political beliefs into his work, its colors and movement create a feeling of suffering. Through his travels he amassed a collection of influences on his style, most notably cubism, surrealism, and hints of pre-Columbian art. The woman at the center of “Mujer en la Cárcel” stands amidst grey tones and cubist fantasy, her figure seems to be swept up into a cold wind and turbulent ground. Standing as a pillar for social change, this lithograph encapsulates the often harsh but supremely beautiful works of David Siqueiros. 

Also on display as a part of the Permanent collection are works by Francisco Pichardo and Maria de Los Angeles. Featured in the Winter 2019 show From Ignorance to Wisdom, Maria de Los Angeles has a wonderful history working with the Schneider and we are happy to have one of her works in our Permanent Collection. Her screenprint, “Skate Date” features her signature use of skeletons in a melding of both modern culture and traditional Mexican imagery. 

Works from the Permanent Collection will be on display in the Entry Gallery at the Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, OR from October 24th to December 14th, 2019. 

Tyler Noland is a junior Creative Writing major at Southern Oregon University. She is originally from the Bay Area, and this is her second year at the Schneider Museum of Art. While not working on her writing she enjoys thrifting for her newest funky outfit.